Write cues in {curly braces} inside your text. They're never spoken: they tell the voice how to say what follows.
{
"text": "{sad} I didn't think you'd come back. {sighs} I'm glad you did. {whisper}Don't tell anyone.{/whisper}",
"voice": "mia",
"model": "v2"
}Cues work on v2. On v1 they're removed before speaking, except {laughs}, which v1 can perform.
Emotion
Put an emotion at the start of a sentence and it colours what follows. Change it at the next sentence.
| Cue | Sounds like |
|---|---|
{happy} | warm and bright, smiling |
{sad} | heavy, close to tears |
{angry} | frustrated, sharp |
{scared} | nervous, shaking |
{excited} | energetic, can't hold it in |
{calm} | gentle, unhurried |
{nervous} | hesitant, unsure |
{tired} | low energy, drawn out |
{playful} | teasing, light |
{serious} | steady, measured |
{warm} | friendly, close |
{sarcastic} | dry, deadpan |
Any direction you can describe
You aren't limited to the list. Describe the delivery in plain words, the way you'd brief an actor:
{barely holding it together, forcing a smile} I'm fine. Really.
{low, gravelly, tired but in control} Status report.
{fast, stumbling over the words} I didn't mean to, I swear, it just happened.Short, concrete descriptions work best. Combine ideas with commas.
Sounds and pauses
Place a sound exactly where it should happen:
I'm fine. {shaky breath} Really. {small laugh} Go on without me.{laughs} {giggles} {sighs} {gasps} {sniffles} {sobs} {coughs} {clears throat} {shaky breath} all work, as does any other short description of a sound. For silence, use {pause} or {long pause}.
Styles for a few words
Wrap words in a style and close it with a slash. Only the enclosed words change:
It's going to {loud}blow{/loud}. {whisper}Get down.{/whisper}| Style | Effect |
|---|---|
{whisper}…{/whisper} | whispered |
{soft}…{/soft} | quieter, gentler |
{loud}…{/loud} | louder, forceful |
{emphasis}…{/emphasis} | stressed |
{fast}…{/fast} | quicker |
{slow}…{/slow} | slower |
A style you never close applies as a direction for what follows instead, so {whisper} Come closer. is whispered too.
Languages
v2 voices speak English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese: write your text in the language you want. Japanese and Chinese are recognised from the text; for Spanish, French and German, also send "language": "es" (or fr, de) for the most natural accent. Cues themselves can be written in any language.
Tips
- One emotion per sentence reads most naturally. Change it between sentences, not mid-word.
- Keep to two or three cues in a row; more tends to blur them.
- On the realtime socket, text is spoken a sentence at a time, so keep a style's
{…}and{/…}within one sentence. - Square brackets and angle brackets in your text are read as ordinary text, never as instructions:
[and]become parentheses and<>are dropped.